Once blind puppy gives animal shelter a helping paw

At six weeks old‚ his eyesight obliterated by a virus‚ he was put up for adoption.

“When I saw his little face I knew I had to bring him home‚” said Linda Theron.

Now‚ four years later‚ the adopted hound and his owner have become ambassadors‚ helping to raise money for the animal shelter that gave the helpless pup his eyesight back.

Zorg‚ as he is now known‚ was taken to the Mdzananda Animal Clinic in Khayelitsha‚ Cape Town‚ by a family who were unable to care for a blind puppy. He had lost his eyesight due to a herpes virus.

“I said to my husband in Afrikaans‚ ‘Ek wil vir hom sorg’ (I want to care for him) and that is how we got his name‚ Zorg‚” said Theron.

She saw the pup on Mdzananda's Facebook page and immediately fell in love.

“He changed my life. The bond I have with him is completely different to that of a ‘normal’ dog. He’s a shelter dog and we have a very special bond‚” said Theron‚ who owns five dogs.

Zorg and Theron have made an appeal in a YouTube video for people to donate money to the animal clinic which is set to lose one of its main funders completely by 2019.

“I've been following Mdzananda’s work ever since I adopted Zorg. They recently announced that they lost their main funder and I was horrified. I knew I had to help‚” Theron said.

The funder provided R2.2-million a year towards to costs of running the animal clinic which serves an average of 700 animals per month through consultations‚ hospitalisation‚ general and orthopaedic surgeries‚ sterilisations‚ mobile clinics and an animal ambulance.

“It is really scary to lose our main funder‚” said Marcelle du Plessis from Mdzananda.

“They were covering around 65% of our monthly expenses leaving us in an extremely difficult financial situation. We are‚ however‚ extremely grateful for the support and funding they were able to give us over the past years. We are trying to be as proactive as possible and to not let the funding loss get our spirits down‚” said Du Plessis.

The clinic has launched a fundraising campaign‚ hoping to sign up 3‚000 “Paw Members”‚ each donating R100 per month. Theron is backing the campaign‚ sharing her journey with Zorg‚ in a YouTube Video.

“The work that is done at Mdzananda is essential for the community of Khayelitsha and if it wasn’t for them I would not have Zorg‚” she said.

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